Everywhere in South Texas morning glories are showing off. The trumpet-shaped purple flowers climb fence posts and stretch tendrils along barbed wires. They run up flag poles, twist around mail boxes, and climb on anything above ground level.
Near the coastline, because of our unusual moist summer, morning glories dot the countryside. They are known as September bloomers, and they have launched their autumn showy parade. Besides their beauty, I admire that they bloom even after a severe drought. Often, July and August gang up against fall flowers, but the morning glory’s heart shaped leaves keep unfurling and earning their “glory” name.
“[G]lory in the Koine Greek is doxa; it means to give the correct opinion of,” Kay Arthur says in “Lord I Want to Know You.” Speaker and author Doris Black says we bring glory to God when we “make him look good” by wearing his name combined with right-living.
Doctor Luke describes a scene at a home in Capernaum where glorifying happened. Friends carried a disabled friend to Jesus for healing. On that day, a lot of sick people had the same idea. Get to Jesus.
Every corner and niche in the host home was filled with folk. Each window and door of this makeshift clinic had sick folk or rubber-neckers pressed against them. All wanted to get a healing or see the healer. No one wanted to give up their advantage.
The mercy-minded friends climbed to the roof and lowered their friend through the tiles and down to Jesus’ level. Impressed by the group’s faith, Jesus forgave the man’s sins and awoke his paralyzed limbs.
Jesus told the healed man to roll up his bed and go home. Luke says, “At once he rose up . . . took up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.” The people witnessing this and other miracles were amazed and “also began glorifying God,” saying, “We have seen remarkable things today” (5:17-26). They saw remarkable things because God is good, all good, no evil.
Often, after evil has had a nip at us, that's when God does his marvelous work and we have opportunity to praise him, making him look good, calling attention the One who keeps giving good gifts even when we fail to live right.
My mother is suffering the final stages of a disease and is bedridden at home. Dad’s been helping her for a long time, 24/7 help for the past year. Recently, she said to me, “God promised to do us good, not evil, all the days of our lives.” The essence of her statement is found throughout Bible stories.
Even in her pain, from her much less-than-perfect situation, she is my morning glory. Blooming during a drought, she gives correct praises for God, and she points me to him.
She still makes him look good.
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